Jude Law at Young Vic fundraising launch
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Young Vic Receives £5m Lottery Award for Rebuild

The Young Vic has today secured a maximum £5 million National Lottery award, which brings the total now raised for its essential £12.5 million rebuild of the South Bank theatre to £10 million. The remaining £2.5 million must come from other private donors via the fundraising campaign, launched by actor Jude Law (pictured) earlier this month (See News, 10 Feb 2004).

News of the successful Lottery bid comes in the same week that the Young Vic won a Laurence Olivier award for last year’s “audacious” season under the artistic direction of David Lan (See News, 22 Feb 2004).

In a press statement released today, Lan said of the National Lottery investment: “This is a brilliant and extremely welcome endorsement of our plans for our new building. It is as valuable for the message of public support as for the huge contribution to our campaign. We are very grateful to Arts Council England (ACE) for their continued and generous backing.”

ACE chief executive Peter Hewitt commented: “The Young Vic Theatre is an important part of London’s cultural landscape. For 34 years it has produced a consistently challenging and inspirational body of work and nurtured the talents of some of our most gifted artists. Arts Council England is delighted to be able to make this award towards the restoration and redevelopment of this much loved building.”

Construction is due to begin this July and be completed by summer 2006, with the Young Vic company co-producing intermittent projects elsewhere during the two-year interim.

The new building, designed by Haworth Tompkins Architects, will retain the renowned semi-in-the-round auditorium and the original butchers’ shop, which currently serves as a foyer, albeit with improvements. Two smaller studios will be built to its west for rehearsals and performances. The rest of the site will be razed to make way for new facilities, including expanded offices, dressing rooms, a terrace and more public spaces.

Options for public donations to the Young Vic rebuild campaign include naming opportunities (starting with a toilet for £2,500), buying permanent seats in the auditorium (£1,000) and paying £1 supplements on tickets for upcoming productions. For further information and to make a pledge, visit the Young Vic website.

- by Terri Paddock

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